1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,740 Evernorth brings the power of wonder and relentless 2 00:00:02,799 --> 00:00:05,599 innovation to create world class pharmacy, care, and 3 00:00:05,599 --> 00:00:06,580 benefit solutions. 4 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:08,960 Barriers to care can lead to gaps in 5 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:10,719 care, which can drive up the total cost 6 00:00:10,719 --> 00:00:13,839 of care. Our capabilities work seamlessly together to 7 00:00:13,839 --> 00:00:17,245 create innovative pharmacy care and benefit solutions for 8 00:00:17,245 --> 00:00:18,225 today and tomorrow. 9 00:00:18,765 --> 00:00:21,565 Our connected health services make the treatment, prediction, 10 00:00:21,565 --> 00:00:24,225 and prevention of health care's most complex conditions 11 00:00:24,685 --> 00:00:27,265 easier and more accessible as we drive organizations 12 00:00:27,484 --> 00:00:28,545 and people forward. 13 00:00:29,189 --> 00:00:31,269 This is Haley Recker with the Becker's Payer 14 00:00:31,269 --> 00:00:33,109 Podcast, and we are recording live at the 15 00:00:33,109 --> 00:00:35,609 Becker's third annual spring payer issues roundtable. 16 00:00:36,229 --> 00:00:37,829 I am thrilled today to be joined by 17 00:00:37,829 --> 00:00:38,649 Chrissy Torino, 18 00:00:39,030 --> 00:00:41,750 chief plan officer and interim chief operating officer 19 00:00:41,750 --> 00:00:44,225 at CountyCare Health Plan. Chrissy, thank you so 20 00:00:44,225 --> 00:00:45,664 much for joining me today. Can you go 21 00:00:45,664 --> 00:00:47,344 ahead and share a little bit about yourself 22 00:00:47,344 --> 00:00:49,984 and your background? Sure. I'm happy to. Good 23 00:00:49,984 --> 00:00:51,664 morning. My name is Chrissy Torino. I'm the 24 00:00:51,664 --> 00:00:53,984 chief plan officer and chief operating officer at 25 00:00:53,984 --> 00:00:56,545 CountyCare Health Plan. We're a Medicaid managed care 26 00:00:56,545 --> 00:00:59,450 plan with just over 410,000 27 00:00:59,450 --> 00:01:01,289 lives here in Cook County. So we're owned 28 00:01:01,289 --> 00:01:02,509 by Cook County Health 29 00:01:03,129 --> 00:01:05,450 and which is the biggest safety net health 30 00:01:05,450 --> 00:01:07,069 system here in Cook County. 31 00:01:07,530 --> 00:01:09,530 And we are a four star plan by 32 00:01:09,530 --> 00:01:10,030 NCQA 33 00:01:10,569 --> 00:01:11,069 and, 34 00:01:11,444 --> 00:01:13,924 are really dedicated to health equity and improving 35 00:01:13,924 --> 00:01:15,145 the health of our members. 36 00:01:15,605 --> 00:01:17,465 Well, thank you so much for that introduction. 37 00:01:17,765 --> 00:01:19,924 I'd like to start our conversation off today 38 00:01:19,924 --> 00:01:22,005 talking about health equity, which has become a 39 00:01:22,005 --> 00:01:24,520 critical focus for many health plans. Can you 40 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:26,520 share an overview of a key initiative here 41 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:28,459 that you're involved in or particularly 42 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:30,359 excited about, and what are you hoping to 43 00:01:30,359 --> 00:01:30,859 achieve? 44 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:34,140 Sure. So Cook County Health and CountyCare, 45 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:37,240 have really led the way from a state 46 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:39,500 perspective in health equity efforts. 47 00:01:40,034 --> 00:01:40,534 We 48 00:01:40,834 --> 00:01:43,234 have had over from a Cook County health 49 00:01:43,234 --> 00:01:45,494 perspective, had over a hundred and eighty year 50 00:01:45,715 --> 00:01:48,515 history of doing health equity and supporting folks 51 00:01:48,515 --> 00:01:49,894 from a safety net perspective. 52 00:01:50,354 --> 00:01:52,534 And during the pandemic, we had the opportunity 53 00:01:52,754 --> 00:01:53,254 of 54 00:01:53,849 --> 00:01:56,730 investing our quality withhold funds to invest in 55 00:01:56,730 --> 00:02:00,010 housing. So we invested $5,000,000 in the flexible 56 00:02:00,010 --> 00:02:02,569 housing pool. It's a partnership of government and 57 00:02:02,569 --> 00:02:03,310 other organizations 58 00:02:03,770 --> 00:02:05,930 to fund housing for individuals for a period 59 00:02:05,930 --> 00:02:07,950 of three years, including tenancy supports. 60 00:02:08,504 --> 00:02:11,324 And we were able to house 67 members, 61 00:02:12,104 --> 00:02:15,625 and since that time have seen, really great 62 00:02:15,625 --> 00:02:17,884 outcomes from a a health equity perspective. 63 00:02:18,584 --> 00:02:20,185 Well, thank you so much for going into 64 00:02:20,185 --> 00:02:22,229 such great detail there. I kinda wanna pivot 65 00:02:22,229 --> 00:02:24,729 the conversation a little bit to member satisfaction. 66 00:02:25,750 --> 00:02:28,150 So member satisfaction is essential to thrive in 67 00:02:28,150 --> 00:02:29,849 today's competitive health care landscape. 68 00:02:30,709 --> 00:02:33,669 What experience or engagement strategies have proven effective 69 00:02:33,669 --> 00:02:35,014 for you? Sure. 70 00:02:35,555 --> 00:02:38,354 So member engagement really begins by asking members 71 00:02:38,354 --> 00:02:41,074 what they want. So we do enroll enrollee 72 00:02:41,074 --> 00:02:43,394 advisory councils, we do post call surveys, and 73 00:02:43,394 --> 00:02:45,954 we also conduct telephonic poll surveys every other 74 00:02:45,954 --> 00:02:47,715 month with members to ask them about their 75 00:02:47,715 --> 00:02:49,735 satisfaction on a variety of benefits. 76 00:02:50,879 --> 00:02:53,379 And we really wanna make sure that members, 77 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:55,759 know that we are here for them. And 78 00:02:55,759 --> 00:02:58,180 so we have a multichannel, omnichannel 79 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:01,759 support system including an outreach team that did 80 00:03:01,759 --> 00:03:02,719 over 240 81 00:03:02,719 --> 00:03:04,560 events over the last year to help people 82 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:07,114 with redetermination, but it's also a front door 83 00:03:07,175 --> 00:03:09,655 so that people can get services from us 84 00:03:09,655 --> 00:03:11,175 and and know where to find us. So 85 00:03:11,175 --> 00:03:13,114 we, during that time, served, 86 00:03:13,495 --> 00:03:16,775 over 10,000 county care members and over 13,000 87 00:03:16,775 --> 00:03:17,675 community members. 88 00:03:18,509 --> 00:03:19,969 Well, that's absolutely fascinating. 89 00:03:20,430 --> 00:03:21,870 You know, we've talked a lot about the 90 00:03:21,870 --> 00:03:24,829 imperative to reduce costs, improve quality, and advance 91 00:03:24,829 --> 00:03:26,989 health care equity, none of which are small 92 00:03:26,989 --> 00:03:27,489 tasks. 93 00:03:27,789 --> 00:03:29,709 How do you approach aligning these priorities in 94 00:03:29,709 --> 00:03:31,409 your organization's strategic vision? 95 00:03:32,354 --> 00:03:33,955 So the main way that we've done this 96 00:03:33,955 --> 00:03:36,995 is through value based care. We're a provider 97 00:03:36,995 --> 00:03:38,834 owned and and led health plan, as I 98 00:03:38,834 --> 00:03:42,375 mentioned. And CountyCare has really focused on improving 99 00:03:42,514 --> 00:03:45,254 quality of care, health outcomes, and access by 100 00:03:45,659 --> 00:03:48,219 reducing the transactional nature of care through value 101 00:03:48,219 --> 00:03:50,000 based care arrangements with our providers. 102 00:03:50,379 --> 00:03:52,219 So, in 2024, 103 00:03:52,219 --> 00:03:54,860 almost 60% of our spend was a value 104 00:03:54,860 --> 00:03:57,360 based care arrangement. We also delegate care management 105 00:03:57,885 --> 00:04:00,145 and really believe that medical care, 106 00:04:00,685 --> 00:04:02,685 is best done in the medical home as 107 00:04:02,685 --> 00:04:03,185 is, 108 00:04:03,885 --> 00:04:05,805 care management and making sure that people have 109 00:04:05,805 --> 00:04:08,044 that relationship and that trusted relationship with their 110 00:04:08,044 --> 00:04:08,944 medical home. 111 00:04:09,245 --> 00:04:11,004 And before we wrap up here, I'd like 112 00:04:11,004 --> 00:04:12,605 to get your thoughts on the future of 113 00:04:12,605 --> 00:04:13,585 the payer space. 114 00:04:14,340 --> 00:04:16,100 So what do you think is leading the 115 00:04:16,100 --> 00:04:18,579 charge in transforming care delivery and driving better 116 00:04:18,579 --> 00:04:19,800 outcomes for all stakeholders? 117 00:04:20,660 --> 00:04:23,300 I think it's going more upstream in supporting 118 00:04:23,300 --> 00:04:26,899 people with housing, food, and other services that 119 00:04:26,899 --> 00:04:29,414 really impact their health. It's no longer gonna 120 00:04:29,414 --> 00:04:30,394 be just about 121 00:04:30,854 --> 00:04:33,495 the transactional nature of healthcare. It's about supporting 122 00:04:33,495 --> 00:04:34,634 people in their communities. 123 00:04:34,935 --> 00:04:36,774 So that's why we've made an investment in 124 00:04:36,774 --> 00:04:38,854 housing. We also have a food program where 125 00:04:38,854 --> 00:04:41,574 we've supported our members with getting access to 126 00:04:41,574 --> 00:04:43,479 registered dietitians, but also, 127 00:04:44,019 --> 00:04:45,639 food prescriptions in their homes. 128 00:04:46,500 --> 00:04:48,339 Well, thank you so much for joining me 129 00:04:48,339 --> 00:04:50,100 today. Again, this is Haley Recker with the 130 00:04:50,100 --> 00:04:52,660 Becker's Payer Podcast recorded live at the Becker's 131 00:04:52,660 --> 00:04:55,379 third annual spring Payer Issues Roundtable. Chrissy, thank 132 00:04:55,379 --> 00:04:57,240 you so much. Thanks for having me.